About the Seminar

Why does someone join an extremist group? What are the pathways via which individuals join such groups? How does one show commitment to an extremist group? Why does someone participate in acts of terrorism? Drawing on 175 interviews with current and former Islamist extremist groups in Indonesia and the Philippines, this talk presents the findings of Dr Julie Chernov Hwang’s latest book, Becoming Jihadis: Radicalization and Commitment in Southeast Asia. It addresses these core questions by exploring the socio-emotional underpinnings of joining an extremist group, arguing that social ties play a critical role at every juncture in the joining process, from initial engagement to commitment to participation in jihad experiences, paramilitary training and terrorism.  It unpacks the processes by which members build a sense of community, connection, solidarity and brotherhood; how they come to love and trust one another; and how ideology functions as a binding agent, not a cause.

About the Speaker

Julie Chernov Hwang is an associate professor of political science and international relations at Goucher College and a Senior Research Fellow at the Soufan Center. She is a recipient of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Distinguished Scholar Award (2023-2024) for which she will examine the role of social networks and strong social ties in terror cell construction. She is an expert on terrorist behavior in Southeast Asia—from motivations for joining extremist groups, to the pathways into such groups, to commitment, role assignment, disengagement, reintegration, and deradicalization.  She is the author of Becoming Jihadis: Radicalization and Commitment in Southeast Asia (Oxford University Press, 2023); Why Terrorists Quit: The Disengagement of Indonesian Jihadists (Cornell University Press, 2018); Peaceful Islamist Mobilization in the Muslim World: What Went Right (Palgrave Press, 2009); and the co-editor of Islamist Parties and Political Normalization in the Muslim World (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014).  Her articles have been published in Political Psychology, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Asian Survey, Asian Security, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Asia-Pacific Issues, Southeast Asia Research, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, RSIS Commentaries, CTC Sentinel, the Middle East-Asia Project, and Lawfare.  Her current research explores the role of social networks in the construction of Jemaah Islamiyah, ISIS, and Al Qaeda terrorist cells; the role of formers in multi-sectoral P/CVE programming; how we can best measure progress in deradicalization; repatriation of Southeast Asian migrants from Syria; and cross-ideological trends in disengagement, reintegration and rehabilitation.